The days grow shorter as the to-do list grows longer. I lift my head from work to find the sun so low in the sky that I give up on running errands for the day. I can venture out tomorrow, when it will, of course, be dark even earlier.

Not for nothing do we light our lamps, place candles in our windows, drape trees with brilliant garlands. It’s time to remind ourselves that we will not always have nine hours of daylight and monochrome landscapes. That there will come a time when twilights will linger till almost 10 and the world will burst with color again.

But for now, nothing to do but pull on the wool socks, the ear-warmers, the gloves, the buff. Take a deep breath, plunge into the cold air and breathe deeply. This will not last forever. Nor will we.